Infected
by 100NaturalBacon
Summary: Azula has become infected with the Green Flu and it is far too late to save her. (Oneshot) Updated version out.


**Updated as of 10/7/2020**

**The rewrite of this story is out! I really enjoyed making this story last year for Halloween, and since it's that time of the year again, I thought I'd revisit this. Because the original version of my story was made in quite literally a day, it was pretty rushed. This time around, I decided to take more time to flesh things out and add details that I otherwise may not have added in my original version. A lot of parts from the original story are reused here and follow the general direction the first version had.**

**Can you guess which special infected Azula becomes?**

* * *

An excruciating burning sensation made its way through Azula's body as she lay curled up in agony on the cold metal floor of the ship. The cold floor was the only source of relief from her raging fever. Waves upon waves of nausea washed over her, the rocking of the ship amplifying the intensity of the spinning she felt. Even though she had already emptied her stomach contents on the other side of the small room, Azula's stomach continued to cramp and churn, sending her dry heaving.

It was blatantly obvious to Azula that she was undoubtedly infected. She could not recall a time where she was this terrified. Her body shivered uncontrollably with fear. The sheer speed with which the virus was able to spread throughout its host left her baffled. Her own body hadn't even had time to fight off whatever this mystery virus was.

Azula didn't want to believe it. She had been completely fine and healthy only hours earlier in the day. It had been just another day at the asylum. She had been idly watching the other patients in the courtyard from the barred window of her assigned room.

Even in the isolation of the asylum, word of a new plague had spread quickly through asylum staff. It quickly became apparent to everyone that this was no normal plague. It first started out as a small outbreak, then was quickly declared an epidemic. The "Green Flu" as the scientists called it, had originated in a small town to the north of Caldera City. In only two weeks, the outbreak was already out of hand. It was only three days ago when Azula had first heard reports of signs of infection in Harbor City.

What the green flu was exactly, Azula did not know. It seemed to be an extreme form of rabies. She only had the gossip from the doctors and nurses in the mental institution to go on, but from what she had heard, the green flu caused its hosts to go rabid and on some occasions rapidly mutate.

Azula never saw the infection first hand and from what she had heard about it, she definitely did not want to. Unfortunately that day she had no choice. Her usually locked door had been opened and stormed by a group of Imperial Firebenders; members of the Royal Procession. Though institutionalized, she was still Princess of the Fire Nation and protocol had to be followed.

As Azula was pulled away from the barred window, she had caught the faintest glance of one of the patients suddenly lunging at the neck of a nearby staff member. At first, she fought against their grasps, demanding that they let her go, but soon an important detail had caught her attention. The Imperial Firebenders had rushed her towards the entrance of the building, not even bothering to sedate or shackle her, which had immediately put her on edge. If the Royal Procession was this serious about getting her out, then she had to be in immediate danger. She relaxed and stopped fighting against them and allowed the Imperial Firebenders to escort her out of the building.

Once they were outside however, the sights she were greeted with made her want to retreat back into the safety of the secure asylum walls. There were more members of the Royal Procession outside, all of them firing fireball after fireball at what seemed to be an almost endless stream of sickly, pale green, rabid people.

The group of royal guards had quickly stuffed her into a carriage and they were off. The ride through Caldera City had been slow; almost painstakingly slow as the Imperial Firebenders had to clear the path for the carriage.

One by one, Azula had watched the Imperial Firebenders that were protecting the carriage get picked off. A shiver went up her spine as the reality of the situation began to weigh down on her. There was a growing sense of horror as she continued to watch outside from behind the thin carriage windows.

Sudden swarms of sickly people rushed a few of the defending royal guards, leaving them buried under a pile of writhing bodies who wanted to tear them apart. The other members of the Royal Procession could do nothing but leave their fallen comrades behind for dead, lest they want to fall victim to the horde as well. So they continued to escort the carriage through the streets. Azula watched as a rope-like tentacle suddenly shot out of the darkness of an adjacent alley and wrapped itself around one of the royal guard's torsos. Azula could hear their screams of fear as they were toppled to the ground and dragged away into the darkness.

Azula had heard the piercing shriek before she even saw what was coming. She only had a few split seconds to see the thing launch itself off the building and right towards the window she was peering out of. The body came crashing through the small carriage window, clawing at the air in an attempt to reach its selected prey.

Azula leapt back from the window just in time to avoid the frenzy of claws and began to send kicks full of blue fire at her attacker. The infected person had yelped, snarled, and spat, sending flicks of blood to fly from its mouth. It kept pushing to get at her despite the damage she was doing to it, until someone outside the carriage had finally pulled the infected person from the window.

There was a quick, "Princess, are you alright?" as one of the Imperial Firebenders looked through the broken window to check on her.

Slightly dazed from the sudden attack, Azula had automatically replied, "Just fine, now keep moving!"

The royal guard had nodded and returned back to shooting the approaching horde.

The attack had left her shaken and alert. The rest of the ride to the main entrance of Caldera City felt infinitely longer than it had been before. It felt like forever before they passed through the gates and reached the road that led down the side of the mountain.

The remaining Royal Procession members leapt onto the side of the carriage, and by the skin of their teeth, they were out of Caldera City. As soon as they were free of the restricting buildings, the carriage sped its way down the mountain side.

Taking a risk, Azula had peered out of the window once more. Beside them, two komodo rhinos had joined them and were bowling over any approaching infected. The scene that was further below the mountain is what left her stunned. It was very reminiscent of that of the eclipse battle. She could see the lines of fire as soldiers pressed forwards against blurry swarms of people down in the Harbor City. A few tanks were scattered around the Royal Plaza. All of them were fighting against what used to be people of their own nation.

Azula retreated back into the "safety" of the carriage. The trip down was tense and nerve wracking. Even while protected by some of the best benders in the Fire Nation, she felt no reassurance and was ready to unload streams of fire at anything that dared get close.

Outside, she could hear the carnage. The distinctive 'swoosh' of fire seemed never ending. The hordes of infected people snarled and screamed. Azula would stiffen every time she heard the distinctive ear splitting shrieks of the infected type that had attacked her. The air was filled with the smell of burning flesh.

It felt like hours before they reached the royal ship, which was docked and ready to evacuate the capital as soon as all important persons were on board.

As soon as the carriage had stopped, the side door flew open and she was immediately escorted towards the docks. The Imperial Firebenders rushed her forwards, the urgency to get her as quickly to the ship as possible clearly shown in their actions.

Guarding the docks was a long line of members from the Royal Procession. As they neared the ship, and familiar people came into view, the men that had been escorting her had suddenly grasped her arms, holding them tightly.

Despite being the Princess and a person of importance, Azula was still deemed a threat to the Fire Lord and the Royal Family. They weren't going to forget her actions, especially so soon after she had been captured after trying to flee into the Forgetful Valley.

Zuko, Ursa, and the gang of misfits he called "friends" were standing in the middle of the dock, right before the gangplank that led up to the royal ship. As soon as Azula had come into view, there was an obvious growing tension as she was led closer and closer. They all stared at her with unreadable expressions.

The tension had been expected, but what she didn't expect was Ursa's soft smile and for Zuko to run up to her, relieved that she had arrived safely.

There wasn't much time for talking however, for the Imperial Firebenders began to escort them up onto the royal ship as soon as Azula had arrived. Zuko had been the first to go up, followed by Ursa and her family, then finally the Avatar and the snow peasants. Azula had been the last one to be escorted up.

The Imperial Firebenders had edged her towards the gangplank. But before they could begin walking up, the men holding her arms jerked her backwards as one of the royal guards along the dock suddenly vomited and fell to his knees. A horrible coughing noise emanated from within the helmet.

Both alarmed and concerned, his comrades quickly ran to his aid.

"Wait, no! Don't touch him!" One of the Imperial Firebenders that had been holding her arm released his grasp and ran in front of the group of men to prevent them from moving any closer to the infected royal guard.

With their defenses suddenly dropped, that was all it took for Azula to be snatched from the midst of the heavily guarded dock. A long, rope-like tentacle had suddenly wrapped itself firmly around her torso and yanked her free of the other Imperial Firebender's grip. Azula had fallen to the ground as she began to get dragged away.

Fear and adrenaline surged through her. Time seemed to go by so slowly as she was dragged backwards. Azula could recall the expressions of shock and terror upon Zuko and Ursa's face as she was pulled further and further away towards the awaiting arms of the infected individual.

Somehow, a special infected type designated as a "Smoker" had been able to sneak its way past the Royal Procession's defenses and hide underneath a nearby wooden staircase.

There were hollars of shock and men yelled commands at the guards. The Imperial Firebenders began to charge forwards, but Azula was being pulled too fast for them to catch up. Suddenly the dragging stopped and she had felt two clawed hands grab her shoulders and a horrible wheezing sound followed.

Azula had looked up to see the horribly disfigured face of the Smoker. As it lifted a clawed hand to slash her, her survival instincts kicked in. She struggled against the coil of flesh that pinned her arms to her side and kicked wildly with her free legs, sending blasts of blue fire into the air. She had felt her foot connect with the thing's knee caps and it collapsed to the floor, still clawing in her general direction. The rope-like tongue that the Smoker had wrapped around her tightened as it reeled her in closer.

Much to her relief, a bright orange blast of fire shot at the creature from behind her, striking the infected person right in the mass of boils that hung from their face. Its head suddenly exploded, releasing a large cloud of thick green smoke that engulfed the area. It smelled noxious and was so incredibly thick, she was practically choking on it. She coughed violently as her body attempted to remove the tainted air from her lungs.

From behind her, multiple hurried hands grasped her and worked to quickly remove the long rope of flesh that trapped her body. Once her torso had been freed, the Imperial Firebenders lifted her to her feet and urgently rushed her towards the boat and up the gangplank. The boat left the dock as soon as she had stepped on board.

Zuko and Ursa had run up to her frantically, each looking equally shaken by what had just taken place. Due to safety concerns, they had been urged back as Azula was immediately rushed to the ship's infirmary. The doctors examined her thoroughly, perhaps a bit too thoroughly for Azula's liking, and deemed her alright. But as soon as they had gotten everything done with and their worries had been eased, they threw her into one of the many spare rooms on the ship.

They had to have been sailing for at least a couple hours now.

It could have been anything to have caused her to catch the green flu. From the close proximity to all the infected, the sudden attack by that leaping infected, or the noxious smoke of that infected she had encountered. But the doctors said that she should have been alright, that the virus could only spread through bites and scratches, yet she had gotten none of those.

The symptoms had shown up about an hour after they had put Azula into the room. It started out as a simple cough; nothing too concerning. She assumed that it was because of her close encounter with that smoke spewing infected. But then she began to overheat, which quickly developed into a deadly fever. As time passed, her physical state only continued to decline.

Azula had tried to exit the room, but she had been forced back in by multiple guards who were stationed outside the door. They didn't even bother to listen to her reasoning, for they still saw her as the crazed girl who talked to hallucinations and had tried to kill her own mother. Even if she was able to get their attention now, the infection had progressed too far for any of the doctors aboard the ship to be of help.

Azula lifted a hand to grip her forehead which throbbed painfully with a headache. That was when she noticed the discoloring in her skin. She held her hands up in front of her and watched in horror as her pale skin began to discolor before her eyes. A blue-greyish hue developed under her skin and began to overtake the rest of her arms. She begins to violently shudder uncontrollably despite her high temperature.

A strong sense of impending doom tells her that her end is near. She is overcome with terror and Azula can't hold back the tears that well up in her eye lids as she lets out a hoarse sob. She's so scared.

Her body seemed to go into the next stage of mutation. A sharp sensation akin to pins and needles began to spread throughout her muscles, which soon intensified into a burning sensation that seemed to engulf her entire body. The already agonizing headache which assaulted her brain turned into an unbearable stabbing pain.

Suddenly, pain exploded throughout her body, spreading to every square inch of skin, muscle, ligament, and bone. The worst pain of all came from her legs and lower back.

Azula's head snapped back as she released an ear-piercing scream.

The pain was indescribable, almost unimaginable that a person could ever experience something as torturous as this. Azula could feel her muscles tearing and growing beneath her skin; how fibers of flesh rearranged themselves as the virus forced her body to rapidly grow new muscle into existence.

The door to the room flew open and hit the wall with a loud metallic bang. The Imperial Firebenders that had been guarding the hallway stormed the room, stopping short of the writhing firebender. The men yelled out with alarm.

"The Princess!"

"Hurry! Someone go get a doctor!"

"Someone go tell the Fire Lord!"

"No, no! Don't get near her, you'll get infected!"

Cough after violent cough began to wrack her body. Azula tried to call out for help between gasping for air and uncontrollable coughing, but all she could get out were strained croaks. Uncontrollable tears streamed down her now grey face as one last painful cough spewed out bright red, oxygenated blood. She desperately began to scratch the floor as she began to coke, her now mutated claws making a horrible scraping sound as they were dragged across the metal.

Her limbs twitched and trembled before she began to convulse violently. What control Azula had over her bending before was lost. As she kicked and swiped, blasts of blue fire were sent into the air.

Azula became faintly aware that she was losing consciousness, and ultimately her humanity. Terror gripped her chest as her vision began to blur and fade in and out of darkness. She silently prayed to Agni that he would help her. She didn't want to become one of those things. She didn't want to lose who she was. She didn't want to die.

Azula was so scared. So, so scared. She yearned for at least some comfort. At this very moment, she didn't care about what had happened in the past, she wanted… she wanted… she wanted her mommy and daddy and her brother. She wanted them to hold her and hug her, to give her soothing words and whisper about how everything would be okay. She wishes that she could have at least seen them one last time. She wishes that she could have at least said sorry for all the misdeeds that she had done, to say sorry for all the problems she caused them. She just wished that they knew that she truly loved them.

The last of her tears escaped her eyes as her vision darkened and Azula was thrown into unconsciousness.

Ever so slowly, her body ceased its erratic spasms and the random bursts of fire came to a halt. The virus completed the last of it's work and the rapid growth of muscle reached completion. The mutation was complete. All that was left was the rapid rise and fall of Azula's chest to indicate that the princess was still alive.

The three guards who had remained in the room stood around the princess' body in stunned silence. They looked at each other with confused, terrified eyes. They didn't know what to do, how to help, or how they were even supposed to react in a situation like this.

After a few uncertain seconds of silence, one of them built up the courage to approach the princess' body despite the risk. They walked up cautiously and lightly touched Azula's shoulder.

"Princess Azula, are you alright…?" The Imperial Firebender asked awkwardly. It was quite obvious to everyone in the room that the princess was beyond 'alright', but what was he supposed to say? He just watched the princess probably die.

When she awoke a few seconds later, she was no longer Azula. That name meant nothing to her anymore. She curled her lip into a snarl when she spotted the royal guard's looming figure.

**. . .**

Zuko hurriedly made his way through the long metal hallways of the ship, struggling to navigate down the multiple decks and sharp corners as he made his way towards his sister's location. Hot on his heels was Ursa and following behind them were Aang, Katara, and Sokka.

The news had been completely unexpected, taking everyone by surprise. Ursa had been hit the hardest, immediately bursting into tears once the reality of the situation had set in. They knew that the virus spread easily and that it took control of its host fairly rapidly, but to have it happen to someone that they knew made them all realize how truly devastating the green flu really was.

It almost made no sense to him. Azula had been fine only hours ago. The doctors that had examined her said that she should have been fine, but based on what the guards had told him, his sister was far into the infection and she probably wasn't going to make it.

Zuko found it almost impossible to believe that Azula could be taken down by anything. Even after he had defeated her in their Agni Kai, she was still able to intimidate him. She never backed down or stopped fighting. Her sharp mind always looked for ways to overcome any roadblocks that stood in the way of her goals.

He hoped with all his being that Azula could fight off the sickness, but deep down he knew that it was already too late for her. There were no reports of anyone successfully fighting off the sickness. Even if Zuko couldn't help her, he wanted to at least say goodbye to his little sister.

Zuko's heart was gripped with grief. Why did it have to be his sister, of all people? He didn't want to watch his sister suffer and succumb to the virus' effects. He didn't want to think that she would eventually lose every memory about herself and become a slave to the virus' influence. He didn't want to believe that they would have to kill her to prevent her from going feral.

He lifted up a sleeve to wipe away tears that had begun to obscure his vision.

It was eerily quiet as the group entered the sector of the ship his sister was residing in. Zuko felt uneasy as he walked through the metal halls. Something was up, he could feel it. It was devoid of the guards he had assigned to watch over Azula.

Ursa ran ahead of Zuko and beelined for the half-open door at the end of the hallway. Most of the room was shrouded in shadow, the candles offering very little light. Ursa slowed to a halt a few meters from the open door and cupped her mouth with her hands. The tears that already flowed down her cheeks began to flow down harder. Her breathing hitched and she hiccuped as Ursa struggled to keep in her sobs.

As Zuko got closer, the metallic stench of blood grew stronger and stronger. There was a growing pit in his stomach as he drew nearer to the open door.

As he came to stand beside his mother, his eyes widened with shock. Aang, Katara, and Sokka were caught in the same stunned silence as they stood beside him and took in the sight before them.

A recognizable, female figure was hunched over in the middle of the blood covered floor. Around her, the three bodies of the Imperial Firebenders laid limp. Each one of them was disemboweled, their stomachs nothing more than large, red, flesh cavities. Their mutilated entrails were strewn around the room. Zuko was almost grateful that their faces were covered by their helmets, for their faces would have surely been contorted in agony.

Zuko could feel the bile rising in his throat as he watched the figure, with its back turned to them, lean into one of the bodies and drag its claws through the soft flesh of the guard's belly. Its long claws easily tore through meat, skin, and the thick fabric of the armor alike.

Ursa began to shake uncontrollably. Large tears spilled from her eyes and she couldn't hold back the large sob that escaped her throat. The head of the figure snapped up immediately.

Instinctively, Zuko, Aang, Katara, and Sokka moved in front of Ursa and got into their battle stances. Zuko bent fire into his palms, Aang held out his staff, Sokka held up his boomerang, and Katara uncorked her pouch and readied her water.

Zuko's stomach sank with dread as the female figure stood up and turned around to face them.

From behind a curtain of raven black hair, Azula's golden eyes stared back. The whites of her eyes were stained red by burst blood vessels and her skin had taken up a pale grey hue. Dotted along her exposed arms, ugly yellow boils bulged from her skin. Self-inflicted scratches and burn marks were also clearly visible.

Azula aggressively held out her crimson stained claws and bared her bloody teeth. She appeared to study the group before she let out a loud screech and took a threatening step forwards.

Zuko looked at his sister in disbelief. The pressure built up behind his eyes until he couldn't take it anymore and his tears freely flowed. His chest constricted with grief, making it hard for him to breathe. The flames which he held up began to falter.

Beside him, Ursa began to sob uncontrollably at the sight of her infected daughter. His friends gasped in shock and their expressions became ones of unconcealed horror.

They were too late. _He_ was too late. Any hopes that he could have had his last conversation with his sister was lost. It pained him to think that she had been locked in that room, alone and suffering. He could only guess what had gone through her mind before she eventually lost herself.

"Azula? Oh Agni… no…," Zuko croaked out.

Azula seemed to respond to her name. She stopped baring her teeth and turned her focus towards Zuko. She appeared to listen, tilting her head slightly in curiosity.

As Zuko watched, he felt a growing glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, he could somehow get to her.

"It's me, Zuko. You know me. I'm your brother. You remember me, right?" He continued. Zuko prayed to Agni that there was at least a part of Azula there to still remember him. His hope only continues to grow when he thinks he sees a flash of remembrance in her blood-stained eyes.

Azula leaned forwards and sniffed the air in an animal-like fashion. The scent was familiar and so was his appearance. Something within her tells her that she shouldn't attack and that she should be protecting him instead, but she shakes her head, and with it, shakes off that feeling. Perhaps she had known him in a previous life, but as she locks eyes with the boy once again, she wants to do nothing more than pounce upon him and drag her claws through the soft flesh of his vital organs. She bares her teeth once more and lets out a low, guttural, animal-sounding growl.

Azula suddenly dropped to all fours. Slowly, she began to creep forwards, all the while growling louder and louder as she approached Zuko.

Zuko's hope began to fade as he noticed the sudden shift in his sister's behavior. He watched the spark disappear from her eyes and a feeling of desperation came over him.

Something in Sokka's mind clicked. As he watched Azula enter a crouching position, all kinds of alarm bells went sounding off in his head. Whatever Azula had become, she was not a normal infected. He could not recall all the details or the name of the designated infected type, but what he did know was that crouching was a signature sign that it was about to attack.

"E-everyone get back," Sokka stuttered nervously. He grabbed his sister's arm and began to pull her backwards, trying to get as much distance between Azula and them as possible.

Zuko could feel the hands around his arms, pulling him further and further from his sister. His desperation only grew faster. He didn't want to leave his sister just yet. He didn't want to give up hope so soon. He had seen the look in her eyes. Azula was still there, she had to be.

To Ursa and Aang's surprise, Zuko pulled away from their grasps and took a step towards his feral sister.

"Please, Azula! You have to remember me. I'm your brother, Zuko. And this is your mother, Ursa," Zuko cried out desperately. The spark did not return to her eyes, and instead they grew wilder and wilder.

"Zuko, what are you doing!?" Katara asked incredulously.

Zuko took another step forward. "Azula, you're a fighter. You've always been. I know you can fight this off."

"Zuko, stop!" Aang commanded.

Zuko ignored him and kept moving forwards. "Azula, I just… I just don't want to believe you're gone. So please show me that you're still there," His voice slowly faded out into barely above a whisper.

Azula bunched up her legs and got into a more compact position. She dug her claws to the best of her ability into the metal flooring of the ship and watched as Zuko had drawn closer.

"Please, Zuko! I don't want to lose you, too," Ursa cried out. She ran forwards and grasped his arm, struggling to pull him backwards as quick as she could. This seemed to pull Zuko out of whatever grief-stricken trance he had gone into.

Zuko locks eyes with Azula and for a brief moment he sees the spark in her eyes, followed by a flash of pain and regret. A tear slips from the corner of her blood stained eye.

Sokka is hit by sudden remembrance. He knows what type of infected Azula has become. She's a special infected type, and he knows just what it is capable of: great leaping distance and quick killing blows.

"WATCH OUT!" Sokka yells in alarm.

The Hunter shrieks as it leaps at Zuko.

* * *

**Yep, a Hunter. I was contemplating as to whether or not I should have made Azula a witch, though I'd imagine the ending wouldn't be too different than this one. Zuko would trigger the now Witch Azula and well... if you play the games, then you know what happens. Azula became infected through her close encounter with the Hunter that attacked her in the carriage.**

**Hope everyone enjoyed!**


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